Ichigo's footsteps were slightly muffled by the crunching of the snow beneath his shoes. He walked with his hands in his pockets, his breath puffing out in a miniature cloud of mist in front of his face. The cold night air stung the tips of his ears, but he could not be arsed to put a hat on, and besides, he had gone for a walk and did not plan on being out for too long. It didn't matter that he had been out for an hour already. It was just too pleasant to walk under the velvety sky, lights winking here and there on the quiet houses and only the occasional machine showing up between the streets with a low hum to clean the snow from the streets. Ichigo suspected that it was only one machine that circled the streets; after all, it was Christmas Eve and people were probably not on duty.
He looked up to the sky and exhaled slowly on purpose, looking at his breath drifting up in the sky. It was not hard to just walk and not think of anything in particular. His mind and soul were relaxed; his body warmed up and springy. The evening felt free and liberating He did not have a destination in mind. He had gone to the river bank already, but since no enlightening was forthcoming, he had quietly turned around with a small smile and walked away again. The air was crisp and dry, all the humidity materialized in the pure, fluttery snowflakes lying on the ground.
Ichigo did not feel cold; he even lowered the zipper of his jacket to let the fresh air touch his neck and press against the thin material of his t-shirt. Out of habit, his feet took the usual route to school, while he was thinking about Christmas decorations and dinners.
Walking on the bridge felt different than usual, with hardly a car around. Ichigo looked over the railing and enjoyed mentally comparing the sight in front of him over the different seasons. Now the outlines of the town were not visible in the dark, only the bright lights drawing a rather different map than usual. The whole of Karakura looked like a Christmas decoration; the garlands of the streets stretching and criss-crossing, the occasional larger gathering of holiday lights catching the eye…
Ichigo suddenly noticed that there was someone else to his left, further on the bridge; someone who was also looking over the town. There was some familiarity in the silhouette and he frowned in puzzlement; without thinking, he walked slowly in that direction. Several feet away he registered who it was.
'Ishida!' he exclaimed and the other boy, who had not noticed him approaching, turned abruptly. He blinked several times, his face blank, before he recognized Ichigo and nodded with resignation.
'Kurosaki', he said neutrally and turned around again to look at the town. Ichigo's frown deepened.
'What are you doing here?' he asked, stepping forward.
'Nothing,' Ishida said coolly without turning to look at him. 'You?'
'I was taking a walk,' Ichigo replied truthfully. 'I mean, why aren't you at home to celebrate Christmas or something?'
Ishida turned his head toward Ichigo now, lifting his eyebrows. 'I could ask you the same thing, you know,' he said somewhat peeved. 'Especially since you have a family to celebrate with-' he stopped abruptly and looked down at the river, his hands clenching the railing a bit.
Ichigo had forgotten for a moment that Ishida lived alone. The sympathy gripped him tightly, but he would not allow it to escape. Ishida would hardly appreciate it.
'I left Karin and Yuzu at home,' he said casually, 'with Dad to entertain them… come to think of it, perhaps I should go home and save them, eh?'
The easy humour did not achieve what he had intended; Ishida was staring off as though he had not even heard him. The expression on his face was closed, almost frozen, but it didn't sit well; even Ichigo could tell that there were a lot of churning feelings underneath the mask. He hesitated for a second on a course of action and decided to go for it straight away.
'Ishida…' he took one more step forward and made to put his hand on Ishida's shoulder, but started slightly when he felt only thin cotton under his palm. Ishida obviously wore only a long-sleeved shirt with nothing over it. The skin was cold and unresponsive. 'You are freezing!' he exclaimed. Without a second thought, he shrugged off the jacket and put it on Ishida's shoulders. This caused a reaction; Ishida turned and stared at Ichigo with an odd expression on his face.
'Are you trying to freeze yourself to death?' Ichigo asked abruptly. 'What were you thinking, going out without a jacket? Gods, Ishida…'
'I don't need it, Kurosaki, save yourself the trouble,' Ishida replied in a clipped voice, moving to take Ichigo's jacket off, but the latter put his hands on Ishida's shoulders, preventing the movement. Ichigo stared at Ishida, searching his face. The eyes behind the glasses were narrowed and there was a pronounced scowl, but it could either be irritation, or trying to suppress his emotions. There was distress there, deep in the dark irises, and Ichigo felt Ishida shivering with the cold under his hands. Ishida was looking at him and the anger that was written over his face was slowly giving way to desperation, which said without words: Don't let me go. Don't go. Ichigo's hands started on their own lightly rubbing up and down Ishida's arms.
'If you have been feeling lonely, you should have called,' Ichigo said softly, half to himself, half to a very surprised Ishida, whose eyes widened. 'You really are very stupid, Ishida.'
The indignant Quincy opened his mouth and started saying something, but Ichigo decided just then that he did not want to listen; he pulled Ishida to himself swiftly and kissed him, arms snaking around his back, holding the jacket in place as Ichigo was kissing Ishida slowly, lips and tongue moving with deceitful sluggishness. Ishida's body tensed against him, but Ichigo continued on, undeterred; his arms tightened, his mouth pressed down more insistently. Ishida pushed agaist his chest, but Ichigo would not let go; eventually the resistance relaxed and Ishida's cold fingers crept up Ichigo's neck.
The kiss ended as Ichigo drew carefully an inch away, looking questioningly at Ishida. The dark blue eyes were dazed and confused, the fingers trembling uncertainly against Ichigo's skin.
'Come with me to my home,' Ichigo said in a determined voice. 'We will have Christmas together.'
Ishida did not object, and so Ichigo turned and led him away, back toward home, with his hand around Ishida's shoulders, never to let go.